Oscar Pistorius' lawyer: it would be 'impossible' to hear screams from witnesses home

Oscar Pistorius' lawyers say they will carry out tests to establish whether it
would have been possible to hear screams from the 170 metre distance between
the witnesses home and Mr Pistorius'

6:33PM GMT 04 Mar 2014

As the second day of Oscar Pistorius' trial came to a close the defence gave a hint at what might be in store as they questioned their first witness Michelle Burger.

The Telegraph's Southern Africa Correspondent Aislinn Laing said Psitorius' barrister, Barry Roux said they would "do tests" to establish whether it would have been possible to hear screams from the 170 metre distance between the witnesses home and Mr Pistorius'.

"When questioning Ms Burger the defence Barrister Mr Roux said that it was really impossible for her to have heard Ms Steenkamp locked in the lavatory, with the door closed and the window apparently closed, when she was living 170 metres away."

Miss Burger's evidence is potentially damaging to the defence case because if her account of hearing a woman screaming before shots were fired is believed by Judge Thokozile Masipa, she would have to discount Pistorius' claim that he did not know he was shooting Steenkamp through the locked lavatory door.